Hacksaw Ridge - If we can't stomach the blood and guts, maybe we're more than just stomachs
Mel Gibson is back with his latest movie Hacksaw Ridge.
The movie is remarkable for its raw and graphic depiction of what fighting in WW2 would have been like.
The battle scenes in Hacksaw Ridge give us the juxtaposition between human courage and brutality.
While we're admiring the bravery of soldiers and the noble principles of Private Desmond Doss, we're also horrified by the carnage, cruelty, and gruesome loss of life as hundreds of soldiers from both sides are ripped apart by machine-gun fire, bayonets, and explosions.
Whether or not we believe war can be justified, something deep inside us is disturbed by seeing a human shooting, knifing, or mutilating another human being.
Yet, why do we react this way?
Because if all we are is animals. If all we are is just another life form. If all we are is just atoms and molecules. What's wrong with a human killing another human, especially in a time of war?
Animals do this all the time. Ants do it. Spiders do it. Dogs do it. Cats do it. Whales do it. Even hamsters do it. Animals are terribly cruel to other animals. They fight, maim, decapitate, and disembowel each other all the time. They do this by nature. It's natural animal behaviour.
So why should we be disturbed when humans fight, maim, decapitate, or disembowel each other? We should just get over it. But we don't just get over it. And soldiers who come back from war don't just get over it either.
So maybe we are more than just animals.
But this can only be true if by nature we are unique, precious, and special. Otherwise we're just another animal, and trying to argue otherwise is to impose a civilised, wishful, social construct upon our true animal nature.
The Bible agrees with our gut instinct. We can't treat each other like animals. We are more than just another life form. We are more than the sum of our body parts. We are precious. But where does this come from?
The Bible says we are in the "image of God". We are more than animals. By nature we are in the image of God.
So, when we watch Hacksaw Ridge and think "I can't stomach this." That's exactly the point. We're not meant to. We are more than walking, talking stomachs.
We are human beings created and loved by a Creator God to be in his image.